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Understand your bill and reconciliation data in Partner Center

  • Artikkel

Appropriate roles: Billing admin | Admin agent

Learn how you can use invoice and reconciliation files to gain insight into Partner Center charges across the program.

How can I find my reconciliation files for new commerce (G-invoices) and legacy (D-invoices)?

You can find your invoices in the Billing workspace in Partner Center.

You can also find your billing history or overview, Azure spending trends, and reconciliation files in the Billing workspace.

To find and download your reconciliation files:

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select the Billing workspace.
  2. Go to the Billing overview (NCE) task menu.
  3. Go to the Billing | Billing Overview (NCE) pane.
  4. Choose the desired year and currency (if applicable) in the upper-right corner.
  5. Select the invoice number.
  6. Find the reconciliation file on the side pane.
  7. Select Download report. A notification at the top of the page indicates that the file is being processed.
  8. Go to the Reports (NCE) page to track the progress of your download. You can monitor the status of your request in the Status column of the request line item.

Note

You can asynchronously download all new commerce reconciliation files from the Partner Center portal.

What do reconciliation files (or line items) do?

Reconciliation files provide a detailed list of your charges and credits, and help you accurately track financial transactions. To create invoices for customers, use customer details in reconciliation files. For more information, see Use reconciliation files.

What is the difference between billed and unbilled reconciliation files (or line items)?

Reconciliation files (or line items) provide a detailed record of every charge or credit for a billing period. These records play a vital role in maintaining precise billing accuracy and empowering proactive financial decisions.

Billed or closed-billing-period reconciliation file: This type of file includes all finalized charges and credits from a specific billing period to ensure that every invoiced amount:

  • Aligns with the services delivered.
  • Matches the total of all line items in the corresponding invoice.

For instance, if you're billed for 100 units of a service in January, the file lists all 100 units to confirm consistency with the invoice. This type of file covers all charge types, including usage-based (like pay-as-you-go services) and non-usage-based (like flat fees or license-based subscriptions).

Unbilled or open-billing-period estimates file: This file provides near-real-time projections of charges and credits for an active billing period that isn't yet invoiced. Timely projections help you forecast costs and optimize budgets. This file type is:

  • Updated regularly to reflect ongoing usage and contractual charges.
  • Split into two separate files: one for usage-based charges and another for non-usage-based charges.
  • Exclusively available for partners in the new commerce experience of the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.

By consistently using reconciliation files, you can enhance billing accuracy and financial planning. These improvements lead to more efficient and reliable business operations.

What are the key benefits of reconciliation files?

Reconciliation files:

  • Help you ensure accurate billing and prevent billing discrepancies by cross-checking invoices with actual usage.
  • Help you avoid financial surprises by managing costs proactively with up-to-date estimates.
  • Help you bill customers with confidence and boost customer trust with precise billing line items.

What products are included in the new commerce invoice reconciliation line items?

Here are the product types that are included in the monthly invoice reconciliation:

  • Azure pay as you go
  • Azure reservations
  • Azure savings plan
  • License-based product or online services, such as Office, Dynamics, and Power Apps
  • Perpetual software
  • Software subscription
  • Marketplace or non-Microsoft software as a service (SaaS) products

Use monthly invoice reconciliation files or line items to maintain full visibility into all billing line items or transactions related to these products, including charges and credits. Here's how to access and use them effectively:

You can ensure a smooth and transparent billing process by regularly reviewing these files or APIs.

What products are included in the new commerce daily rated usage reconciliation line items?

The daily rated usage reconciliation files or line items focus on usage-based Azure services (like virtual machines, storage, or reservations) and non-Microsoft SaaS products that are pay as you go.

Product types included in the daily rated usage reconciliation

  • Azure pay as you go: Both charges and usage appear based on the daily usage.
  • Azure reservation: Usage is shown, but charges appear only when usage exceeds the pre-purchased capacity limit.
  • Azure savings plan: Usage is shown, but charges appear only when usage exceeds the committed amount limit.

Why do some SaaS products not appear in the new commerce daily rated usage reconciliation line items?

When you buy non-Microsoft SaaS products through your Azure plan subscriptions, their visibility in your billing reconciliation files or line items varies based on their billing model. Here's what you need to know:

  • Many non-Microsoft SaaS products charge a flat monthly or annual fee that isn't tied to daily usage. These costs appear only in invoice reconciliation files or line items, not in daily usage files or line items.
  • SaaS products billed using pay-as-you-go rates (like per user or per API call) appear in daily usage files or line items.

By understanding these distinctions, you gain full visibility into all Azure plan expenses.

How can I map taxes or VAT to my invoice reconciliation line items?

Here's how you can validate an invoice with taxes or VAT:

  1. Add the Tax values from your legacy license-based reconciliation files or line items.
  2. Add the TaxAmount values from your legacy usage-based reconciliation files or line items.
  3. Add the TaxTotal values from your new commerce invoice reconciliation files or line items.

Why are some products visible only in invoice reconciliation line items and not in daily rated usage line items?

Some products appear only in invoice reconciliation files or line items and not in daily rated usage files or line items. Here's a breakdown of how billing works for various product types:

Usage-based products:

  • Bill based on daily consumption (like pay-as-you-go Azure virtual machines and storage).
  • Appear in both:
    • Daily rated usage line items, which track daily usage.
    • Invoice reconciliation line items, which represent finalized billing.

Fixed-fee products:

  • Bill a flat rate (like per-user licenses and non-Microsoft SaaS subscriptions).
  • Only appear in invoice reconciliation line items, because there's no daily usage to track.

Azure subscriptions might include fixed-cost components (like reserved instances or savings plans) alongside usage-based services. Here's why they behave differently:

Fixed monthly/annual fees:

  • Appear in invoice reconciliation line items as line items (like "$100/month Azure reservation fee").
  • Daily charges show $0 in usage data because the cost isn't tied to daily usage.
  • Usage tracking still occurs, even for fixed-cost Azure services. Daily rated usage line items might show zero charges to maintain visibility into resource activity (like reserved instance utilization).

Example scenarios

Product type Monthly invoice reconciliation Daily rated usage
Microsoft 365 Business Premium (per-user license) ✅ Fixed fee ❌ Not included
Azure virtual machines (pay as you go) ✅ Usage-based ✅ Usage-based
Azure reserved instance ✅ Fixed fee ✅ Zero charge (usage tracking)

Key takeaways

  • Invoice reconciliation: Includes all billed products (usage-based and fixed-fee).
  • Daily rated usage: Includes only usage-based products, including Azure reservations and savings plans (even if charges are zero for fixed-cost Azure services).

By understanding these distinctions, you can streamline billing reviews, reduce confusion, and ensure compliance.

Note

Each billing event generates a charge (cost incurred) or credit (amount deducted). These charges and credits are reflected as invoice reconciliation line items, according to the billing plan.

Why does my invoice reconciliation data show a zero-tax amount when the invoice has taxes?

In some countries or regions, invoice reconciliation files or line items show a zero-tax amount, even though taxes are included on those invoices. This discrepancy occurs because of a specific tax calculation and representation strategy.

Tax calculation methods and rounding off discrepancies

In some regions, taxes are calculated on the total amount of the invoice rather than on individual line items. This approach means that tax is applied one time to the total. When you calculate taxes based on the total invoice, you can get a different result than if you calculate taxes on each line item.

When taxes are calculated for individual line items and then rounded to two decimal places, it can lead to small yet noticeable differences. These differences are noticeable in scenarios where multiple line items are involved, and each line item's tax is rounded independently. The sum of these rounded amounts can differ from the tax calculated on the total amount, which can lead to noncompliance with tax regulations.

Example: Consider two items that cost $9.75 and $10.25, with a tax rate of 10%.

The total of both transactions before tax is $20, and the tax is ($20 × 10 ÷ 100 = $2).

The line-item tax might appear as follows: Product 1 ($9.75 × 10 ÷ 100 = $0.975, rounded to $0.98) and Product 2 (10.25 × 10 ÷ 100 = $1.025, rounded to $1.03).

Transaction Amount Tax
Product 1 $9.75 $0.98
Product 2 $10.25 $1.03

The difference between the sum of line-item taxes $2.01 ($0.98 + $1.03) and the total tax $2.00 is just one cent. This one-cent discrepancy might seem negligible, but it highlights a critical issue in tax compliance. Tax regulations often require precise calculations, and even small rounding discrepancies can lead to noncompliance.

Taxes on invoices only

To mitigate these discrepancies, taxes are shown exclusively on invoices rather than on individual reconciliation files or line items for specific countries or regions. This approach helps ensure:

  • Compliance with tax regulations: By calculating tax on the total amount rather than individual line items, the system more accurately adheres to tax regulations, reducing the risk of noncompliance due to decimal rounding errors.

  • Consistency: The pretax amount remains consistent across both the reconciliation files (or line items) and the corresponding invoices. This consistency enhances transparency and trust in the billing process.

  • Efficiency: Calculating tax on the total amount instead of each line item:

    • Simplifies the calculation process.
    • Avoids unnecessary calculations.
    • Saves time.
    • Reduces potential errors.

  • Transparency: Provides clear and consistent financial information, which fosters trust.

Why are the charges on my invoice reconciliation data different from the daily rated usage line items?

Discrepancies between your invoice and daily usage files or line items can be due to several factors that affect how charges are calculated and presented. Understanding these differences is key to accurate financial management and ensures correct billing for your usage. The following factors can affect discrepancies.

Exclusion and inclusion of products

Daily rated usage focuses primarily on pay-as-you-go resources under your Azure subscription. These services are billed based on actual usage. For more information, see Products included in the daily rated usage reconciliation.

Invoice reconciliation covers charges for all products and subscriptions across your customers. Some of these services aren't pay as you go.

Taxes and adjustments

Invoice reconciliation includes additional charges like taxes and fees, which aren't reflected in daily rated usage.

To compare the charges for a specific product or subscription, use BillingPreTaxTotal in daily rated usage files or line items and Subtotal in invoice reconciliation files or line items. These values should be comparable before any taxes and adjustments are applied.

Discounts and credits

Discounts and credits can significantly lower the invoice amount, including:

  • Contract terms that offer volume discounts.
  • Service-level agreements (SLAs) that provide credits for service downtime.
  • Promotional offers or special campaigns.
  • Tier pricing that offers reduced rates for higher usage volumes.

Due to these discounts and credits, the Subtotal value on your invoice reconciliation files or line items might be lower than the BillingPreTaxTotal value from daily rated usage files or line items.

Decimal rounding off

Minor discrepancies can occur due to differences in decimal precision. The daily rated usage often displays amounts with up to 10 decimal places for BillingPreTaxTotal, which offers a precise amount.

In contrast, the invoice reconciliation typically rounds Subtotal to two decimal places, in line with standard financial practices. This rounding can lead to slight variances in the final amounts.

Timing and dates

To avoid mismatches due to date ranges, ensure that both documents cover the same billing period.

Suggested actions

  1. Product comparison: Review the list of products in daily usage files. Compare the list with invoice line items and identify any discrepancies.
  2. Tax and fee check: Verify if taxes or other fees that aren't in the daily rated usage file are included in the invoice reconciliation.
  3. Discount review: Check for any applicable discounts or credits that might lower the invoice total.
  4. Date verification: Ensure the date ranges on both documents are the same.
  5. Decimal rounding consideration: Acknowledge minor differences due to rounding, especially with many line items.

Understanding these factors can help you reconcile differences between your invoice reconciliation and daily rated usage files or line items. By reviewing both documents carefully, you can ensure all charges are correctly accounted for. If you have further questions or need assistance, reach out to the support team. It can provide detailed explanations and help ensure accurate billing.

When should you contact the support team?

When you thoroughly review the reconciliation data and identify discrepancies that you can't resolve on your own, you should contact the support team. Here's a three-step approach to determine when to reach out to the support team.

1. Perform an initial self-check

Before you contact support, perform an initial self-check by taking the following actions:

  • Compare line items: Check for missing or differing charges in both documents.

  • Quantity or billable quantity: Verify that the quantities billed for the same product or subscription match in both the invoice reconciliation and daily rated usage data. Discrepancies can indicate a problem.

  • Customer ID: Confirm that the customer ID is consistent across both reconciliations, especially for pay-as-you-go charges. An inconsistency might indicate a data mismatch.

  • Product ID, SKU ID, or subscription ID: Ensure that all pay-as-you-go charges are correctly listed and match in both reconciliations. You might need to further investigate missing or differing charges.

  • Subtotal and BillingPreTaxTotal comparison: Calculate the percentage difference between Subtotal from the invoice reconciliation and BillingPreTaxTotal from the daily rated usage data. If the difference exceeds 5%, you should scrutinize further.

  • Review pricing: Look for differences in pricing that could explain discrepancies.

  • Taxes and fees: Invoices might include other taxes or fees not shown in daily usage.

  • Discounts and credits: Apply any applicable discounts or credits that might reduce the invoice total.

  • Decimal rounding off differences: Compare differences between daily rated usage and invoice reconciliation that are due to decimal rounding off.

2. Decide to contact support

You should contact the support team if you find:

  • Significant discrepancies: After your initial checks, you find significant discrepancies that you can't reconcile on your own. These checks include substantial differences in quantities, IDs, or financial totals.

  • Unexplained charges: You encounter charges that you can't account for or understand based on your usage and subscription details.

  • Subtotal and BillingPreTaxTotal: Differences are more than 5%.

  • Technical problems: You face technical difficulties accessing or interpreting the reconciliation data, which prevent you from performing a thorough comparison.

  • Consistent errors: You notice a pattern of discrepancies over several billing periods, suggesting a systemic problem that you need to address.

3. Prepare to contact support

When you decide to contact support, ensure you have the following information ready to facilitate a quicker resolution:

  • Reconciliation information: Have both the invoice reconciliation and daily rated usage details at hand, with specific discrepancies highlighted.

  • Details of discrepancies: Provide a clear description of the discrepancies, including any calculations or comparisons you made.

  • Account and subscription information: Share relevant account details, including customer IDs, product IDs, SKU IDs, or subscription IDs, to help the support team search your account quickly.

  • Previous correspondence: If you previously contacted support about similar problems, have any previous correspondence or case numbers ready.

By following these steps, you can efficiently identify when to escalate problems to the support team, which helps to ensure a productive and effective resolution process. The support team is there to assist you. Don't hesitate to reach out after you perform your due diligence and need further help.

How are prorated charges or credits calculated?

Prorated charges or credits happen when a subscription is adjusted in the middle of a charge cycle due to changes like license adjustments or cancellations. This process ensures that you're billed only for the exact period during which you use the licenses. Here's a step-by-step explanation.

Proration principle

We prorate charges to ensure that billing is accurate. We calculate proration by identifying the exact number of days in the month when a purchase, recurring cycle, or renewal begins. For more information about the charge cycle, see New commerce charge cycle.

Here's how we calculate proration for various months:

  • For 30-day months: If the charge cycle starts in months with 30 days, like April or June, we divide the monthly charge by 30 to calculate the daily rate.
  • For 31-day months: In months with 31 days, like July or August, we divide the monthly charge by 31.
  • For February: We give special consideration to February, which typically has 28 days but has 29 days during a leap year. We divide the monthly charge by 28 or 29, depending on whether it's a leap year.

Proration process

  • Refund (Wipe): We calculate the unused portion of the subscription from the adjustment date to the end of the charge cycle. We calculate this amount by multiplying the daily rate per license by the number of licenses and the remaining days in the cycle after the adjustment.
  • Charge (Recreate): We charge for the new number of licenses, but only for the remaining days in the charge cycle.

Proration example

You bought 10 licenses of an annual Microsoft Business Standard subscription with a monthly billing plan on April 10, 2023, for $10 per month for each unit. On June 20, you added five more licenses.

  • Initial subscription: $10 per license × 10 licenses = $100 per month.
  • Daily rate: $10 ÷ 30 = $0.3333333. The monthly unit price is divided by 30 because the recurring cycle charges began on June 10. For more information, see Proration principle.
  • Adjustment on June 20: Increase to 15 licenses.
    • Refund: 10 licenses * $0.3333333 per day × 20 days (June 20 to July 9) = $66.66 (rounded down to two decimal places).
    • Charge: 15 licenses * $0.3333333 per day × 20 days (June 20 to July 9) = $99.99 (rounded down to two decimal places).
    • Total charge for June: $100 + $99.99 - $66.66 = $133.33.

Note

Total amounts might change due to taxes, exchange rates, and other adjustments.

How can I find reseller information in reconciliation files or line items?

To view the reseller for a purchased product or service, use these attributes of your reconciliation data. The reseller or tier 2 Partner ID is visible only in the reconciliation data for indirect providers.

Attribute/Column name Description Expected value
MpnId The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program identifier of the CSP partner (direct or indirect). The associated Partner ID that you mentioned while enrolling in the CSP program.
ResellerMpnId / Tier2MpnId The reseller of record for the subscription can be identified via Partner Center under each subscription for indirect providers. 0 or blank: No reseller is involved, which means that the transaction is direct between the customer and the partner.
–1: The reseller was removed, likely from the partnership or the specific transaction. Historical transactions should still reflect the original Partner ID, whereas future ones don't involve the reseller.
A reseller's Partner ID: The reseller is involved in the transaction.

Verify reseller involvement

Before you check the Partner ID, always verify if a reseller was part of the transaction. When you review the purchase details by using the order history, you ensure accuracy in your records.

Involve a reseller in the purchase process

To involve a reseller, create customer subscriptions with their participation. For detailed guidance, see Create customer subscriptions in Partner Center. This process is crucial for maintaining accurate records and ensuring resellers receive their due recognition and benefits.

Consider the ramifications of removing a reseller

Removing a reseller might not affect historical transactions but could affect future ones. Consider how to handle existing subscriptions, either by transferring them to another reseller or by taking them over directly.

When you understand these processes and the significance of Partner ID values, you can better maintain accurate billing and reconciliation information. This improvement helps ensure smooth operations and effective management of your Microsoft partnership.

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